Sports

The XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks Won April Fools’ Day With An Incredible Joke

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St. Louis Battlehawks

Getty Image / Ronald Cortes


In this job, April Fools’ Day is kind of terrible. We rely on pouncing on viral moments that people want to see. And, on most days of the year, if you see something from a verified Twitter account, (well, not much longer. Thanks, Elon) you can typically take it at face value.

That’s not the case on April Fools’ Day, with teams and writers putting out normally terrible jokes. Frankly, sports jokes for April Fools’ Day have been going downhill since the 1985 joke pulled by Sports Illustrated where they made up a fictional picture, Sidd Finch. Finch was said to have thrown 168MPH, pitched with only one shoe, a hiking boot, and was also a prodigious French horn player.

The prank fooled many, and the Mets played along with it, making players and coaches available for photographs and comments on their new flamethrower, before coming clean a few days after April Fools’ Day. But, normally the pranks are pretty bad.

Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 French Wunderkind NBA Prospect, pulled a prank that he was going to stay in France for another year and not enter the NBA Draft.

And, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had signed Calvin Broadus Jr. That is, of course, diehard Steelers fan, Snoop Dogg

But, the best joke of April Fools’ Day was pulled off by the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks. The Battlehawks have been getting huge crowds, as the city is supportive of the team after the Rams NFL franchise left the city following the 2015 season.

And, the team hilariously put out a statement that said they would be moving to Los Angeles.

Yes, it was obvious it wasn’t true. But, it was topical and ironic, two requirements for any good April Fools’ Day joke.

They soon put out a statement, but it was still pretty funny.

This will be tough to top next year.